If you are born in Africa, there is something that creeps into your veins and no matter where you go or how long you leave the continent for, that special something is forever within you! No person, thing or any amount of time can ever take it away from you! It is powerful & mighty! It is a calling that your soul has to answer! Africa searches for it’s children and you hear it and feel it!

Having lived in France for 8 years now, we try to go back to South Africa as often as we can. That could be once a year or once every 2 years, but after about one year you start to feel the itch and crave the African sun, sea & air!

So, this year we went to South Africa for the whole month of June as we hadn’t been back for a while and decided to make it worth our while. The travel is long and especially with kids, it can be very tiring.

My husband and I both come from a town called Port Elizabeth in South Africa and this place has and will always have a very special piece of our hearts. It is situated along the coast with some of the most beautiful beaches and views and is home to over 1 million people. Our son was born in France and he had only been to South Africa once before, so we knew that this trip would be all about him and showing him what South Africa has to offer! And it didn’t fail to impress him! He had such a good time! From bonding with his grandparents, to swimming and playing at the beach to discovering a lot of Africa’s amazing animals!

Let’s start with the travel. From France we hopped on a train for about 3 hours and got off in Bordeaux. We then took a shuttle from the train station to the Bordeaux airport where we had quite a long wait and then took a plane to Paris. Our layover in Paris wasn’t too long, but it was a late one and we eventually flew out at about 23h00 that night. This was the long haul flight to Johannesburg and we touched down in South Africa early the next morning. After a quick drink/lunch in the airport, we boarded our last flight (which was delayed) and arrived in Port Elizabeth late afternoon to four very excited faces! Relieved, but exhausted from that long travel, fortunately, home was a quick 15 minute drive and we could relax!

Daniel was immediately ‘at home’ with his grandparents and we all had happy hearts being reunited with our families! So, on the itinerary for our holiday was buy toys, see animals and go to the beach! (my son’s version of course) haha!

We immediately wanted to get into the bush and show Daniel as many animals as possible, so off to Addo Elephant National Park we went! We saw quite a few different animals in the park, but the main attraction was obviously the elephants. And boy, did we see elephants. From big to small, moms and babies, they were all around! We ended the beautiful day with an ice-cream and a sunset drive home.

Next on the list was a quick road trip to Cape Town! By car, it is about an 8 hour trip, but it is such a beautiful route along the coast that you honestly don’t mind being in the car for that long! There are so many cute places along the way where you can stretch your legs, kids can play and fill your bellies with tasty food. It really is a great experience!

In Cape Town there are tons of things to do, but we only went for one night, so as soon as we arrived we headed straight for Canal Walk, which is the 3rd largest shopping centre in Africa! It’s quite impressive. We did some shopping and had dinner at one of the many restaurants to choose from. We then went back to our Airbnb, all climbed into the huge shower, practically wetting the entire bathroom having so much fun and jumped into bed for a cuddle before passing out! Fresh and well rested, we headed out early the next morning to take full advantage of the beautiful day that Cape Town welcomed us with. I’ve been to Table Mountain before and Daniel is still a bit young so probably wouldn’t remember the experience anyway, so we skipped the mountain and went to the V&A Waterfront. There is so much to do and see at the waterfront, that you’re not quite sure which direction to go in, but we settled on the Aquarium and it was definitely a good choice! Daniel got very attached to the mascot Shark that walks around and we got to see some amazing ocean life!

Back to Port Elizabeth, the drive was just as pleasant, stopped at a few places to get a coffee and let Daniel stretch his legs and play. We then headed to Seaview Lion Park, which is just outside of Port Elizabeth. I had been here before, many years ago with a lot of memories attached to the area, so it was great to take my son here! It’s quite a small park, but for Daniel it was good, as we saw warthog, zebra, lion and giraffe. We stopped next to a giraffe standing right next to the road and he wasn’t bothered at all by all the passing cars. He was merrily chewing away on his leaves.

Apart from all those exciting things we did, we went to the beach quite a few times, Daniel caught his first fish (well his Oupa helped a little) and we ate amazing food!

I think I can speak for all of us when I say that this trip did us all good! It recharged our batteries, fulfilled the call of Africa for another year or two, spent quality time with family and we got to see another side of our little boy. He tends to be reserved in France as he isn’t very vocal with french yet, but being around English and knowing that he could express himself and interact easier with people around him, he almost blossomed right before our eyes! In France, it’s often just the 3 of us, but in South Africa there was family and friends around constantly and I think he loved the atmosphere!

The pictures above are of a typical South African dish, called a Potjie! It is prepared in this 3 legged, cast iron pot and cooked long and slow over coals. It can be prepared using many different ingredients & is one of my absolute favorites!!

The month of June came and went and it was time to say our goodbyes! They were hard as usual, they never get easier, but we know that we will be back for another visit soon soon!